Lubricating system for vehicles



Dec. 7, 1948. WINTHER 2,455,847 I LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES FiledJuly 11, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l Hal FIG. /0 I I HOwHED'ld/NTHEB INVENTORLmm. W

n T TOE/V6 K Patented Dec. 7, 1948 2,455,847 LUBRICATING SYSTEM FORVEHICLES Howard Winther, Harrington Park, N. 1., assignor to NathanManufacturing Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication July 11, 1947, Serial No. 760,188

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to pumps adapted to deliver oil to devices forlubricating the flanges of wheels of vehicles running on tracks, such aslocomotives, railroad cars, etc., where the wheels are mounted on trucksor irames which move relatively to the main body of the vehicle whichthey support or for lubricating various points on a vehicle, not runningon tracks, where relative movements are present between its body and itsframe or support,

It is the principal object of this invention to provide in a pump ofthis type, means to deliver only a small quantity of oil to theselubricating devices while. the vehicle is running on a straight track ormaking a straight run and to increase this quantity of oil whilerounding a curve when more lubricant is needed.

Another object is to provide a pump which can deliver quantities of oilto a plurality of lubri eating devices so that a single pump can takecare of the lubricant requirements of an entire vehicle.

A further object is to make use of the movementsof different points onthe vehicle relative to each other to operate the pump, as well as camcontrolling the stroke of the piston;

automatically adjust the amount of oil discharged, so as to provide aself-contained and automatic lubricating system for the purposespecified.

Other objects will become apparent after a perusal of the followingspecification and an in spection of the accompanying drawings in which apreferred embodiment of the invention is described, respectively, shown.

a In the drawings, v

Fig. l is a plan view of a fragmentary part of a vehicle with its framewhile running on a straight track; 1

Fig. 2'15 a fragmentary elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the samewhile rounding a curve;

Fig. 4 is airagmentary elevational view of the ame;

' Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the lubricating pump forming part of thesystem, partly in elevation;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the plane of line 6-B in Fig. 5;v

Fig. 7 is an horizontalsectional-view, partly elevation, along the planeof line 7-? in Fig.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view along the plane of line 8-8 in Fig. 5showing the piston at its minimum stroke;

, piston 32.

Fig. 11 is a detail plan view of the distributing valve and bushing ofthe pump; and

Figs. 12, 13, 14 and 15 are sectional views along, respectively, planesof lines [2-12, i3-l3, 14-44, and l5--l5 in Fig. 11 showing difierentrelative positions between valve and bushing.

Like characters of reference denote similar parts throughout the severalviews and the fol lowing specification.

20 is a vehicle having a body 2| mounted movably upon a frame 22 withinwhich are supported axles of wheels 23, preferably, within springsupported journal boxes, in the manner well known in the art. The wheelsare provided with flanges 24 and ride upon a pair of tracks 25.Attention is drawn to the fact that the vehiclebody is mov able inrelation to its frame, and that the wheels,

respectively, their axles, are movable with re-.

spect to the (frame.

which is fitted a cylinder 21 provided with a discharge duct 28 and anouter annular groove 29 whichv connects an inlet duct 30 to an inlet 38in the housing as shown in Fig. '7.

A piston 32 is fitted to cylinder 21 and is Provided with ports 33arranged to communicate with inlet duct 30 to admit fluid into a chamber34 and to communicate alternately with duct 28 to discharge fluid fromthis chamber.

A reciprocating and oscillating movement is imparted to piston 32 bymeans of a ball pin 35 eccentrically disposed on an end of a ratchetshaft 36 and moving inside a slot of a crosshead at of A stop member 38limits the travel of the piston 32 by contact between its bottom surface39 and a top id of an extension 4%! to the piston 32 when the piston isin its top position'. A spring 32 acting on the crosshead all maintainscontact between the piston, 32 and the ball pin 35 at a'point 18 duringits upward or suction stroke; g

The ratchet shaft to is supported and driven by a ratchet mechanism 54of the kind, for in stance, described in Patent No. 2,406,599. of August27, 1946. The ratchet mechanism is actuated by a connection between anarm t5 and a vibrating or oscillating part of the frame to which thelubricator is attached, such'as the journal boxes of the wheel axles. Apreferred method oi a connection is disclosed in Patent The fluiddischarged into the duct 23 by the motion of the piston 32 passesthrough a duct 46 in the housing and flows to an opening 41 in acylindrical valve bushing 48. A rotary valve 49 within the bushing 48has an annular groove 56 which maintains contact with opening 41 duringthe entire revolution of valve 49. A radial channel through the valve 49transmits the fluid from the groove 56 to an axial chamber 52 in thevalve.

Referring to Figs. 12, 13, 14 and 15, ports 53, 54, 55 and 56 in valve49 serve to distribute the fluid from the chamber 52 consecutively toports 51, 58,59 and 60 in bushing 48 which communicate, respectively,with pump outlets 6|, 62, 63 and 64 In Fig. 'I, teeth of a gear 65 onthe ratchet shaft 36 engage teeth of a gear 66 which rotates a shaft 61and a worm 68. Worm 63 rotates a gear 69 attached to valve 49.

The relation of revolutions of ratchet shaft 36 to those of valve 49 issuch that, when the number of ports 53, 54, 55 and 56 is represented byn, the valve 49 will rotate 1/n revolution foreach revolution of theratchet shaft 36.

The train of gears 66, 68 and 68 is positioned so that one of the valveports, such as 53 will be in communication with a bushing port such as51 during the downward or discharge stroke of the piston 32. Eachrevolution of the ratchet shaft 36-moves a consecutive valve port intocommunication with the bushing port located in its radial plane. Thedifierent positions of valve ports with respect to bushing ports areshown in Figs. 12, 13, 14 and 15. With the valve 49 as shown in thesefigures, the external discharges take place during the consecutiveregistering between ports 53 and 51, ports 54 and 56, ports 55 and 59,and ports 56 and 66. The cycle is repeated as long a the ratchet shaftcontinues to rotate.

The volume of fluid discharged by the piston 32 is controlled by theposition of the stop member 38. The stop member in its normal or lowestposition allows the piston 32 to travel a fixed minimum stroke. Anincrease in stroke is caused by the upward movement of stop member 38when a cam I6 is rotated in either direction. A spring II is provided tomaintain the stop member in contact with cam 16 and to overbalance theforce of spring 42. Cam III has an integral shaft I2 which oscillates ina bearing I3 when an external torque is applied by a lever I4 through anarm I5.

' In a railway vehicle, for instance, certain operating parts such aswheel flanges wear to a degree which is proportional to the curvature ofthe track as well as to the distance traversed. This lubricating systemsupplies an increased amount of lubricant to the wearing parts not onlywhen the vehicle is entering the curve but during the entire traversalof the curve. The method of. obtaining the increased volume is explainedwith reference to Fig. 1, showing a plan view of the frame 22 rotatablyattached to the body 2| of a railway vehicle, and Fig. 2, showing a sideelevation of the same.

The frame 22 has attached to it apparatus for applying lubricant to thewheel flanges 24, including a lubricant reservoir I6, the pump 26 andflange oilers 11, such as disclosed, for example, in Patent No.2,380,743, issued July 17, 1945, to Bengt E. Folke et al., and suitablepipes I8 for conducting the fiuid from the reservoir to the lubricatorand from the lubricator to the flange oilers.

An anchoring lu I9 is fixed to the body 2| of 26 and the anchoring lugI9.

, 4 the vehicle. A rod 66, provided with limited unlversal motion ateach end, serves to connect lever "I4 to anchoring lug I9. The length ofthe rod is adjused so that when the vehicle is standing on a straighttrack the lever I4 and arm I5 are vertical, cam I6 is horizontal. andstop member 33 is in its lowest position, thus regulating the lubricatorto its minimum discharge.

When the vehicle enters a curve, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, theframe 22 is displaced rotationally with respect to the body 2|. Thisdisplacement alters the distance between the pump The rod 86 being offixed length, lever I4 and arm I5 move to compensate for the change indistance between the parts they connect. This movement causes cam I6 torotate, raising the stop member 38, thereby increasing the stroke ofpiston 32 and automatically increasing the discharge of lubricant Uponthe return of the vehicle to a straight track, the parts revert to theposition shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 8, readjusting the lubricant deliveryto the normal requirements.

While I have referred to the system as adapted to lubricate wheelflanges, it is obvious, of course. that the system could be employedequally as well for the lubrication-of other points of a vehicle, andthe term used 1. e. wheel flanges, should not be interpreted asrestrictive in any sense. As stated before the system is equally asapplicable to vehicles not running on tracks but in which relativemovements between different points of vehicle body and its support canbe obtained.

Moreover, while I have shown an oil reservoir separate from the pump, itcan be made part of the pump housing, or an independent supply pump maybe used to furnish oil to the pump of the system in w ich case thepiston serves as a distributing means for the oil to the rotarydistributor.

Many other changes and minor details of construction may be resorted towithout departing from the principles or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a system for lubricating the wheel flanges of a vehicle havingwheels mounted in a frame supporting the vehicle body, devices adaptedto discharge oil against the wheel flanges, a pump mounted upon theframe supplying oil to each of the devices, mechanism to operate thepump actuated by the relative movements of two points on the frame. andmechanism connecting a point on the frame and a point on the vehiclebody with the pump to adjust the amount of oil discharged by the pump inproportion to the relative movement between the vehicle body and theframe.

2. In a system for lubricating the wheel flanges of a vehicle havingwheels mounted in a frame supporting the vehicle body, devices adaptedto discharge oil against the wheel flanges, a pump mounted upon theframe having an inlet, a plurality of outlets in communication with thedevices, a

' cylinder, a piston within-the cylinder, a shaft piston in proportionto the relative movement between vehicle body and frame.

3. In a system for lubricating the wheel flanges of a vehicle havingwheels mounted in a frame supporting the vehicle body, devices adaptedto discharge oil against the wheel flanges, a pump mounted upon theframe having an inlet, a plurality of outlets in communication with thedevices, a cylinder, a piston within the cylinder, a shaft adapted toreciprocate the piston, operating mechanism for the shaft actuated bythe relative movements of two points on the frame, a. rotary distributorinterposed between the cylinder and the plurality of outlets havingports communicating with the cylinder, gearing between the shaft and thedistributor adapted to bring the ports in communication with theplurality of outlets in timed relation with the reciprocation of thepiston, and mechanism connecting a point on the frame and a point on thevehicle body with the pump to adjust the reciprocatory stroke of thepiston in proportion to the relative movement between vehicle body andframe. I

4. In a system for lubricating the wheel flanges of a vehicle havingwheels mounted in a frame supporting the vehicle body, devices adaptedto and mechanism connecting a point on the frame discharge oil againstthe wheel flanges, a pump mounted upon the frame having an inlet, aplurality of outlets in communication with the devices, a cylinder, 9.piston within the cylinder, a shaft adapted to reciprocate the piston,operating mechanism for the shaft actuated by the relative movements oftwo points on the frame, a ro- -tary distributor interposed between thecylinder and the plurality of outlets having ports communicating withthe cylinder, gearing between the shaft and the distributor adapted torotate the distributor at a relation of 1 divided by the number ofoutlets, 1 being a cycle of reciprocation of the piston, to bring one ofthe ports in communication with one of the outlets during onereciprocation of the piston, and mechanism connecting a point on theframe and a point on the vehicle body with the pump to adjust thereciprocatory stroke of the piston in proportion to the relativemovement between vehicle body and frame.

'6. In a system for lubricating the wheel flanges of a vehicle havingwheels mounted in a frame supporting the vehicle body, devices adaptedto discharge oil against the wheel flanges, a pump mounted .upon theframe having a reciprocatory piston supplying oil to each of thedevices, means to regulate the reciprocatory stroke of the piston,

and a point on the vehicle body with the regulat- "ing meansto adjustthe amount of oil discharged rality of outlets in communication with thedevices, a cylinder, a piston within the cylinder, a

shaft adapted to reciprocate the piston, operating mechanism for theshaft actuated by the relative movements of two points on the frame, arotsry distributor interposed between the cylinder and the plurality ofoutlets having ports communicating with the cylinder, gearing betweenthe shaft and the distributor adapted to bring one of the ports incommunication with one of the outlets during one reciprocation of thepiston, and mechanism connecting a point on the frame and a, point onthe vehicle body with the pump to adjust the reciprocatory stroke of thepiston in proportion to the ole body and frame.

5. In a system for lubricating the wheel flanges relative movementbetween vehiof a vehicle having wheels mounted in a frame supporting thevehicle body, devices adapted to discharge 011 against the wheelflanges, a pump mounted upon the frame having an inlet, a plul bythepump in proportion to the relative movement between the vehicle bodyand the frame.

, Y HOWARD REFERENCES :CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,295,211 Riedler Feb. 25, 19191,738,735' Scoville Dec. 10, 1929 1,823,157 McGinnis Sept. 15, 19311,877,848 Gilliam Sept. 20, 1932 2,306,013 Caprez Dec. 22, 1942 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 308,763 Great Britain Aug. 22, 1929 GreatBritain Dec. ,7, 1933

